Jeff Goldblum

On New Year's Eve, it's natural to reflect on all that's happened the past year. What did I do right? What might I have done differently? What were
the highlights? What would I like to see happen again this year?

Of course, there is that other set of events that you didn't do, but happened anyway. Those happenings you couldn't control - sometimes they dominate
a year. It's hard to plan them, but how you adapt to them is more up to you. Sometimes such an event - though critical at the time - fades away without
making a lasting footprint. Yet it can be the other way as well: perhaps the event defines a new reality that you have to deal with for a long time.

This past year I can say that some key things got a lot better. My kids have both made tremendous progress - personally, as well as how they deal
with the world and each other. My French has improved - thanks, once again, to the Charbonneau inquiry and other French newscasts. Just before Christmas, we
started a reno of the business space which has been years in coming.

The reno required, as "step zero", a tremendous purge of stuff we've accumulated since we bought this house ten and a half years ago. It took, in total, about
five days to figure out what to get rid of, then organize it, load it up, and deliver it to the various appropriate places. Among the removals were two of our oldest
computers - which went back to 2002 or even before. We shut them down, then I opened each one up, took out the hard drive, and destroyed it. It was a big
step - because there was no going back.

The purge was finished a couple days back. Then came the furniture moving so we can prep the rooms for painting. It took about a day to finally empty the rooms.

We continue to prep the rooms. Of course, you fill in a hole, then wait till the "spackling" dries (a few hours), then sand and start again. You can't rush it. My wife
knows more about painting than I do, so she showed me about this, and continues to explain the process as we go along.

The purge and the painting are symbolic, of course. Since the beginning of summer, I've been purging my way of thinking. When you do that, you relinquish control
at the same time. New ways of thinking are realized rather than created. Therefore, I've been in a pattern of response rather than control.

Enter Jeff Goldblum, who's been in more movies than I know of. I saw him in "Holy Man" (with Eddie Murphy), as well as "Jurassic Park". In both cases he was a
hapless character who did his best.